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| Joel:
You shouldn't ascribe the paleness of the no-till soybeans simply to "they got off to a slow start." Aside from herbicide injury, about the only thing that can cause paleness in a crop is a nutrient deficit.
Being cavalier about the paleness of the no-till soybeans is stacking the deck against the no-till plots. Unless the researchers consciously or subconsciously want the no-till to be subpar in performance, the cause of the paleness needs to be indentified and corrected. Secondary and micronutrient deficits show up first in a region in the no-till fields/plots. This is especially true if cropping intensity is high, as with cover crops.
In regions where growing-season rainfall is relatively abundant, the tillage treatments will often outyield continuous no-till unless care is taken to provide adequate levels of all nutrients necessary for that crop.
(btw, I do realize that if the no-till soybeans were planted in damp to muddy conditions, the reduced nodulation from compaction could be the cause of the paleness. But these were planted into a cover crop. Far more likely that some other nutrient deficiencies are lurking there.)
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organic tillage system experiment pics
